Contrary to the opinion of some, putting out a hard techno release isn't a piece of cake. Over the course of the past couple years, I've heard loads of releases that are content to just bang away with heavy beats and not offer much up in terms of variety and by putting it under the label "hard techno" or even as a mix, they think they're supposed to get away with being boring. Collabs 3000 is actually the work of DJ and producer Chris Liebing and Speedy J, a talented artist who has been releasing great electronic music for well over a decade now.

Jochem Papp (aka Speedy J) has dabbled in lots of different areas on his releases, but his past couple efforts have found him getting increasingly louder and more aggressive. Loudboxer was his last release and the banging release was about as far away as one could get from his melodic early classics Ginger and G Spot. As one might guess from the title, Metalism is much closer to his last release in terms of overall edge, and it might even push things faster and harder than that release, as it seems like he and Liebing keep trying to leapfrog one another in terms of how far they can push things.

Of course, the above is just speculation, as there's no specific credit given to any of the tracks, but listening to Metalism one can almost imagine them smiling and laughing and saying "oh yeah?" as they come back with even more relentless pieces. The short "Lego" opens the disc with some ambient spaces and a hint of what's to come, as "Modish Ride" uncorks things with a cracking beat and some wobbly bass lowend before "Triflon" punches things in a more tech direction with some almost two-step bass growls and all kinds of skittering glitches. From there, things get downright ruthless as hilt clangs away with harsh, almost industrial beats and "Tunox" piles on the gritty thump for almost seven minutes. The latter track is one of the best on the album, with just enough breathing room to keep it interesting.

To be fair, the album isn't one big slam bang boom, but this definitely isn't the sort of thing to be listening to it you don't like it hard and minimal. Other than the opening track, about the only place they take it down a notch is on the deep ambient wash of "Eventide," but even that track has a bit of harshness to keep you on edge. This is one of the better things I've heard like this since Richie Hawtin's Decks, EFX and a 909. Judging from the crowd frenzy captured on the last track (a live recording of "Trikco"), it's some of the better stuff they've heard as well.